The intervening role of anxiety symptoms in associations between Self-Regulation and prosocial behaviors in US Latino/a college students

Objective The present study aimed to investigate the intervening role of anxiety symptoms in relations between self-regulation and multiple forms of prosocial behaviors in U.S. Latino/a college students. Participants The sample is based on data from a cross-sectional study on college students' health and adjustment. Participants were 249 (62% women; M age =20 years; 86% U.S. born) college students who self-identified as Latino/a. Methods College students self-reported on their self-regulation, anxiety symptoms, and types and targets of prosocial behaviors using online surveys. Path analyses were conducted to test direct and indirect associations among the study variables. Results Self-regulation was directly and indirectly associated with several types of prosocial behaviors via anxiety symptoms. The hypothesized associations also differed by the target of helping. Conclusions Our findings underscore a strengths-based view of the coping and mental health resources that predict positive well-being among U.S. Latino/a college students.